diff --git a/bin/compose-core b/bin/compose-core
index d557575..321ec4c 100755
--- a/bin/compose-core
+++ b/bin/compose-core
@@ -3266,7 +3266,7 @@ get_healthy_container_ip_for_service () {
 
     if [ -z "$containers" ]; then
         err "No containers running for service $DARKYELLOW$service$NORMAL."
-        exit 1
+        return 1
     fi
 
     ## XXXvlab: taking first container is probably not a good idea
@@ -3278,14 +3278,14 @@ get_healthy_container_ip_for_service () {
     if [ -z "$container_ip" ]; then
         err "Can't get container's IP. You should check health of" \
             "${DARKYELLOW}$service${NORMAL}'s container."
-        exit 1
+        return 1
     fi
 
     wait_for_tcp_port "$container_network" "$container_ip:$port" "$timeout" || {
         err "TCP port of ${DARKYELLOW}$service${NORMAL}'s container doesn't seem open"
         echo "  Please check that container is healthy. Here are last logs:" >&2
         docker logs "$container" --tail=10 | prefix "  ${GRAY}|${NORMAL} " >&2
-        exit 1
+        return 1
     }
     info "Host/Port ${container_ip}:${port} checked ${GREEN}open${NORMAL}."
     echo "$container_network:$container_ip"